This invention relates to a foldable blank and the reinforced box for storing produce which is produced from the blank. This invention particularly relates to a produce field box which has improved strength and impact resistence. This invention also relates to produce field boxes which may be stacked onto one another without damaging the produce stored therein. This invention further relates to a produce field box which is relatively light and inexpensive and which can be knocked down to lie flat when not in use.
Presently the produce industry is using wooden boxes to pack, store and transport produce such as tomatoes and the like. However, boxes which are constructed from wood have several disadvantages which do not exist in boxes constructed from foldable materials, such as corrugated paperboard and it therefore would be most desirable to provide a produce field box which is constructed from such materials.
One disadvantage of wooden boxes is that, because of the hardness of the wood, they tend to bruise fruit easily. A second disadvantage of wooden boxes is that they are relatively heavy and therefore relatively difficult to transport manually. Another disadvantage of wooden boxes is that they are relatively expensive. For example, a wooden box is about 31/2 times more expensive than the box of the present invention produced from corrugated cardboard. Yet another disadvantage of wooden boxes is that they cannot be knocked down when not in use and, therefore, require substantial storage space during the off season. The boxes of the present invention overcome the foregoing disadvantages of wooden boxes, but yet are characterized by high strength and stacking ability.
Container and boxes which are constructed from foldable material, such as corrugated paperboard, are well known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,218,360 to Rokol, U.S. Pat. No. 2,864,545 to Royce, U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,219 to Dlugopolski and U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,569 to Layne. However, for a variety of reasons, each of these prior art boxes and containers cannot be suitably used as an all purpose produce field box.
For example, the Rokol construction is not entirely satisfactory for use as a produce field box for a number of reasons. First, as is well known in the art, produce field boxes are frequently overpacked in the field. In prior art boxes this results in a packed box which has produce extending above the side and end walls of the container, and such boxes, of course, cannot be stacked one upon the other without damaging the produce stored. In contrast, the produce field box of the present invention preferably has raised end wall stacking panels upon which the boxes are stacked one upon the other. The produce can thereby extend above the sidewalls of the box without being damaged upon stacking.
The Rokol construction is also deficient when heavy loads are to be stacked because the end wall construction of the Rokol construction comprises at most four layers of foldable material, and as a result is not strong enough to withstand heavy loads. In contrast, the end wall construction of the produce field box of the present invention may comprise up to 7 layers of foldable material, with the result that substantially heavier loads can be stacked in the boxes of the present invention than in the boxes of Rokol.